In anticipation of the deployment of Kenyan police to the Caribbean country beset by gang violence, the chief of Haiti’s national police recently paid a visit to Kenya.
According to information released by Kenyan authorities on Thursday, Frantz Elbe met Kenyan Police Chief Japhet Koome on a fact-finding expedition.
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According to a statement from Koome’s office, Elbe “is on a three-day official visit to Kenya for bilateral security discussions between the two law enforcement agencies.”
To assist in curbing gang violence in Haiti, the United Nations Security Council authorized the deployment of a foreign military team under Kenyan leadership in October.
The UN reports that from July 1 to September 30, there were more than 1,230 deaths and 701 kidnappings recorded throughout Haiti, more than twice as many as during the same time previous year.
Elbe’s visit takes place a few days after a Kenyan delegation traveled to Haiti to meet with local officials.
A multinational force supported by the UN would be led by Kenyan police and sent to Haiti, but the plan has generated controversy because it is facing legal challenges at home.
A court decision in a lawsuit intended to prevent the deployment is still pending, but according to Kenyan officials speaking to the AP, the first set of about 300 cops should be deployed by February. January is when a decision is anticipated.
The High Court in Nairobi initially halted the planned deployment in October. The court’s ruling was made just hours after a vote authorizing the security forces’ deployment was approved by the Kenyan parliament.
Ultimately, the deployment grew to 1,000 officers as part of a 3,000-strong international force that was dispatched to the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince.
Among the nations offering to provide soldiers are Jamaica, the Bahamas, and Antigua and Barbuda.
